CBS Buys Kari Lizer Comedy As Put Pilot

Kari Lizer is back at CBS. Two years after the cancellation of her CBS comedy The New Adventures Of Old Christine, the network has given a put pilot commitment to a new multi-camera comedy project from the writer-producer. It marks a departure for Lizer as it is her first show that doesn’t have a female lead. The untitled sitcom centers on a guy who finally meets the woman of his dreams but she happens to be his cousin’s fiancée. Warner Bros. TV, where Lizer is based, is producing with her Kari’s Logo Here banner.

For the two development cycles after the May 2010 cancellation of Old Christine, which came down to the wire and didn’t allow Lizer to give the five-year comedy a proper ending, she opted to take her projects elsewhere. She pitched CBS, which had been courting her for while, earlier this week. In a great meeting, CBS execs bought the project in the room, bringing Lizer back to the network where she has had her biggest success to date.

Lizer has an impressive streak of all of her scripts so far going to pilot: Old Christine at CBS, True at the WB, an untitled comedy starring Sarah Paulson at NBC in 2011, and Lady Friends starring Minnie Driver and Andrea Anders at NBC and The Unprofessional starring Mary McCormack at ABC this past season. Lizer, who worked on Will & Grace before branching out to create her own shows, is repped by Scott Schwartz. CBS is taking an early start in comedy this year with an off-cycle pilot order to a single-camera from Rob Greenberg which is wrapping casting.

10 Comments

Anonymous • on Aug 16, 2012 6:00 pm

Congrats to Kari. CBS is lucky to have her back. A deeply funny, wicked smart woman that knows how to run a show and treats her cast and crew with the utmost respect. A class act all around. Hope that CBS will find a time slot for the show. NBC missed the boat on LADY FRIENDS.
kari#1fan